BerriAI/litellm · error · Exception

Failed to get branches: {e}

Error message

Failed to get branches: {e}

What it means

Catch-all raised by GitLabClient.get_branches when GET /projects/{id}/repository/branches fails. Any HTTP or network error is wrapped; a 200 response with a non-list body is silently coerced to [] instead. The original error is embedded in the message.

Source

Thrown at litellm/integrations/gitlab/gitlab_client.py:259

    def test_connection(self) -> bool:
        """Test the connection to the GitLab project."""
        try:
            self.get_repository_info()
            return True
        except Exception:
            return False

    def get_branches(self) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
        """Get list of branches in the repository."""
        url: Final = f"{self.base_url}/projects/{self._project_enc}/repository/branches"
        try:
            resp: Final = self.http_handler.get(url, headers=self.headers)
            resp.raise_for_status()
            data: Final = resp.json()
            return data if isinstance(data, list) else []
        except Exception as e:
            raise Exception(f"Failed to get branches: {e}")

    def get_file_metadata(self, file_path: str, *, ref: str | None = None) -> dict[str, Any] | None:
        """
        Get minimal metadata about a file via RAW endpoint headers at a given ref.

        Args:
            file_path: Path to the file in the repository.
            ref: Optional override (tag/branch/SHA). Defaults to self.ref.
        """
        url: Final = self._file_raw_url(file_path, ref=ref)
        try:
            headers: Final = dict(self.headers)
            headers["Range"] = "bytes=0-0"
            resp: Final = self.http_handler.get(url, headers=headers)
            if resp.status_code == 404:
                return None
            resp.raise_for_status()
            return {

View on GitHub (pinned to 6c2dcb801b)

Solutions

1. Read the embedded {e} for the HTTP status
2. Verify token scopes and project permissions with the projects endpoint first
3. Retry transient 5xx/429 with backoff
4. Confirm the repository exists and has branches in the GitLab UI

try:
    branches = client.get_branches()
except Exception as e:
    if "404" in str(e):
        branches = []  # repo may not exist yet / empty
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: Calling get_branches() with an invalid/insufficient token (401/403), a project with repositories disabled (404 or error payload), rate limiting, or connectivity problems to the GitLab API.

Common situations: Token lacks read_repository scope; project is an empty repo or has the repository feature disabled; paginated responses expected but endpoint blocked; self-hosted instance maintenance window.

Related errors

• Failed to fetch file '{file_path}' via JSON endpoint: {e}
• Failed to list files in '{directory_path}': {e}
• Failed to get repository info: {e}
• Failed to get file metadata for '{file_path}': {e}
• Failed to get branches: {e}

AI-assisted analysis of BerriAI/litellm@6c2dcb801b (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/66d83357b6b3f716. Report an issue: GitHub.